Newsletter December 23, 2015

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Christmas Eve Program – Thurs. Dec. 24
From 7:00 to 8:30 PM, Christmas Eve will be celebrated with worship of Jesus followed by readings, music, contemplation and prasad offerings. All are Welcome.

On Christmas Day, Dec. 25, morning meditation and evening Aarati programs continue as usual. There will be no Jnana Yoga class on that evening.

 

Sri Sarada Devi Puja/Kalpataru Day – Fri. Jan. 01, 11:00AM –7:00PM
On Friday, January 01, 2016, Sarada Devi Puja/Worship program will be observed from 11:00am –7:00pm with puja, food & flower offering, prasad luncheon, a video & music.

Kalpataru Day (Wish-Fulfilling Tree) readings will be part of the program.

11:00 am: worship-ritual, 12:30 flower-offering & Prasad-lunch, 2:30-4:00 pm Video,

5:00-6:00 pm 3 - speaker ‘Symposium’ on Sri Sarada Devi,

6:00-7:00 pm - Sarada Devi Samkirtanam and Aarati,

7:00 pm Supper-prasad

All are welcome to any/ all of the events.

Hatha Yoga class:

Beginning Wednesday, Dec. 16, there will be a six-week yoga series of classes from 5:00 - 6:30PM, under yoga teacher Ellen Schaeffer, (Yoga One, Foster). It is $30.00 for 6 weeks; or $10.00 walk-in.

Contact Ellen Only at: 401-368-9642

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Dec. 25	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: NO CLASS TONITE!
Saturday, Dec. 26	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00 AM – 12 noon: Guided meditation and chanting/singing 7:00 - 8:00 PM:  Aarati (singing, a short reading) & Meditation
Sunday, Dec. 27	5:00 – 6:00PM: A talk - ‘Holy Mother and Language' , by Swami Yogatmananda 6:00 – 6:15 PM: Aarati (devotional music) 6:15 – 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00 – 8:00PM: Meditation
Tuesday, Dec. 29	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Ch 50, pp 949

 

Daily Programs

Morning :	5:45 – 6:45 AM: Meditation 6:45 – 7:00 AM: Chanting followed by a short reading from 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 6' 7:00 – 7:25AM – A short ritual worship/Puja. Open to all.
Evening :	7:00 – 7:15 PM: Aarti (devotional music), with a short reading from 'Swami Brahmananda: As We Saw Him: Reminiscences of Monastic & Lay Disciples' (compiled/edited by Swami Atmashraddhananda) 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

La Salle Academy – Wed. Dec. 16
Swami spoke in four  different world religion classes( H.S. level) , about Vedanta and Hinduism to about thirty-plus students each class, from about 8:15 am – 12 noon. Teachers from other classes also listened.

Salutations! – Sat. Dec. 19
The birth anniversary of Swami Premananda, direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed on Sat. Dec 19, with a morning chant and in the evening with a song, a short biography reading and prasad.

 

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)

 

Study Class - 'Jnana Yoga’ (a book by Swami Vivekananda) - Dec. 18, Friday 
Class #12: 

In order to purify our understanding, we must establish our true goal in life and discern what will help us achieve this goal. According to the teachings of Jnana Yoga, knowledge is the highest goal in life because it liberates us: when true knowledge dawns on the spiritual aspirant there is nothing left to be known and we are freed from the bondage of ignorance. One may ask, “Is it practical to pursue such knowledge?” If we are ready to change ourselves, to move away from selfishness and the world, then such a pursuit is the most practical thing in life. Due to terrible inertia, the terrible attachment to our current state, we do not see the pursuit of knowledge as practical. Nonetheless, a bold look at the facts reveals that the life spent running after sense pleasures certainly leads to sufferings in life: desire can never be quenched by adding the objects of desire to it. This admission requires tremendous courage, the courage to face the truth. When the intellectual knowledge that the body is impermanent ripens into the experiential conviction that “I am not the body,” we become detached from the body and the sufferings that are concomitant with attachment to the body. Within each of us lies a potential divinity that needs to be brought out. The heart of spiritual practice is continually reminding ourselves that we are the infinite, the ever-pure, the all-pervading true self.  

 

Be You Perfect – Dec. 20, Sunday
One of the most important needs we feel, is to be perfect, because perfection is part of our intrinsic nature. Yet we feel we lack so many things, and are incomplete. We mistakenly think a car, money or a spouse will make things complete, but there is no end to our desires. The bible says we are made in the image of God, who is perfect. Plato saw perfection not in human forms, but in ideal forms. We get frustrated and feel that there is no perfection, and no justice in the world. When we transcend our limitations and feel a sense of oneness with the universe, we are perfect. Each drop can transcend its “drop-ness” and become the ocean, and all it takes is a change of identification. The Sermon on the Mount says: Be you perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Some say we can go closer but we cannot attain perfection. We cannot attain perfection as an individual, but we can transcend our individuality. Jesus said to love your enemies. We can either expand to infinity or reduce to nothing to be perfect, which are both the same thing. 

 

Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - Dec. 22, Tuesday

Sri Ramakrishna was asking about the appearance of Buddha – as Narendra and others saw at Bodhagaya. He must be having a vision of Buddha, with a tuft of hair and special eyes. Narendra replied that in the statue, as Buddha’s head was covered with a crown of beads, he could not say anything about it.
Everything needed to satisfy the spiritual hunger of all – from most mundane sounding to the highly philosophical - is available with Sri Ramakrishna, to suit various types of aspirants. After 12 years of ‘sadhana’ of various paths and realizing the same ultimate divine experience through each of these, Sri Ramakrishna was instructed, in a divine vision, to stay in ‘bhavamukha’- a state of awareness with access to both – the absolute and the relative levels of existence. He clarifies that it is not by his will that he is in this state but   ‘someone seems to be holding me to the lower plane’. There is nothing that can be called ‘his’ will; for, he has no ‘want’; all is happening with the Divine will. Sri Ramakrishna is kept at this level so that we can learn from the human manifestation.